Hollywood Party (1934 film)
| producer = | writer = | starring = | music = | cinematography = James Wong Howe | editing = George Boemler | studio = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Walt Disney Productions (animated sequences) | distributor = Loew's Inc. | released = | country = United States | runtime = 75 minutes (original) 68 minutes (existing) | language = English | budget = }} Hollywood Party, also known under its working title of Hollywood Revue of 1933 and Star Spangled Banquet, is a 1934 American Pre-Code musical film starring Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Jimmy Durante, Lupe Vélez and Mickey Mouse (voiced by an uncredited Walt Disney). It was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Each sequence featured a different star with a separate scriptwriter and director assigned. Plot with Lupe Vélez in a scene of the film.]] Jungle movie star "Schnarzan" (Durante), a character in parody of Tarzan, is advised by his manager that he needs new lions for his pictures, as his old ones are "worn out". At a wild Hollywood party with many varied guests, including a "lion provider", hilarity ensues. After it all gets out of hand, Schnarzan awakens to find he is just plain old Durante, who had a strange dream.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/210/Hollywood-Party/ Cast * Stan Laurel as Stan * Oliver Hardy as Ollie * Jimmy Durante as Durante / Schnarzan * Lupe Velez as The Jaguar Woman / Jane in Schnarzan Sequence * Jack Pearl as Baron Munchausen * Polly Moran as Henrietta Clemp * Charles Butterworth as Harvey Clemp * Eddie Quillan as Bob Benson * June Clyde as Linda Clemp * George Givot as Liondora, aka Grand Royal Duke * Richard Carle as Knapp * Ted Healy as Himself * The Three Stooges as The Three Stooges * Jeanne Olsen as Mrs. Jimmy Durante (was married to Durante) * Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse (uncredited) * Tom London as Paul Revere (uncredited) * Edwin Maxwell as Buddy Goldfish (uncredited) * Arthur Treacher as Durante's Butler (uncredited) * Robert Young as Radio Announcer (uncredited) Production background During production the film was known as Star Spangled Banquet and the Hollywood Revue of 1933.Variety, March 13, 1934. Although Hollywood Party has no director credited, it has been asserted that Allan Dwan, Edmund Goulding, Russell Mack, Charles Reisner, Roy Rowland and Sam Wood directed various scenes with the overwhelming majority directed by Richard Boleslavsky.Variety, March 29, 1934 George Stevens directed the Laurel and Hardy sequence and Dave Gould directed the "Feelin' High" dance number with choreography by Georgie Hale. Seymour Felix and Eddie Prinz directed final reshoots.Variety, November 18, 1933Variety, February 22, 1934 Around the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer backlot, the choreographers of the dance sequences were competing with those staging the MGM film Dancing Lady, vying to see who could create the most elaborate dance number.Variety, October 31, 1933 The film had many sequences cut or reshot after several references proved too esoteric for foreign audiences. A sequence that had featured Thelma Todd (impersonating Mae West), Lupe Velez, Jimmy Durante and Zasu Pitts playing bridge was deleted after it was lost on British viewers not yet familiar with the game. Further episodes that featured actors Herman Bing, Johnny Weissmuller, Jackie Cooper and Max Baer were cut from the film. As a result, surviving prints run approximately 68 minutes, but the original run time was 75 minutes. Famed songwriters Rodgers and Hart contributed most of the music. Gus Kahn wrote "Moonlight Serenade" for the 1933 Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade. However, when that song was cut from the Warner Brothers picture, it was placed a year later in Hollywood Party and sung by Eddie Quillan.Variety, August 22, 1933 The film was neither a financial nor critical success. It was considered too avant garde to appeal to general audiences. It remains significant today for its 31 stars, including Laurel and Hardy, radio celebrity Jack Pearl, The Three Stooges (in their final appearance for MGM), and Mickey Mouse. The Three Stooges routine was written by Arthur Kober.Variety, October 12, 1933 The Mickey Mouse sequence introduces a Technicolor Silly Symphonies cartoon, "The Hot Choc-late Soldiers", created by Walt Disney with music by Nacio Herb Brown, and lyrics by Arthur Freed. Reception Critical reception for Hollywood Party upon its original release was largely negative. Multiple exhibitors wrote in to the Motion Picture Herald to express their disgust with the film and one theater manager from Kentucky called it "One of the poorest excuses for a picture we have ever played". The New York Times wrote that it "may have been very funny while it was being made, but as it comes to the screen it is not a little disappointing". See also * Laurel and Hardy films * Three Stooges Filmography References External links * [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025263/ Hollywood Party] at the Internet Movie Database * * Category:1934 films Category:1930s musical comedy films Category:American films Category:American musical comedy films Category:English-language films Category:Films with live action and animation Category:Mickey Mouse films Category:The Three Stooges films Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Category:Films directed by Roy Rowland Category:Films produced by Harry Rapf Category:Films made before the MPAA Production Code Category:American black-and-white films